Jemile Weeks’ reaction to being optioned by the A’s

Jemile Weeks took the high road. No excuses. No complaints. Manager Bob Melvin told him he was being optioned to Triple-A Sacramento, and the second baseman packed his belongings with his head up and vowed to be back.

As a star.

Here’s his answer to being asked about possibly returning in September when rosters expand:

“I didn’t get any word, but I would hope. Even going down there, I would hope I’m still something the team feels they can still use and needs. But at the end of the day, I’m going to be a star in this game, man. You’ve got to have your ups and downs. It just makes the story so much sweeter when you come back. I don’t want to expound too much on it, but you’re looking at a star, period.”

Weeks was hitting .220 with two homers and 20 RBIs in 113 games. His .302 on-base percentage is second lowest in the league. It was a big comedown from his rookie season. On the other hand, he made strides defensively.

“For some reason, I feel like I was prepared for the news,” Weeks said. “It’s disappointing because I know I could have done more as a player, but I’m still happy with the way I took the decline in my average. I still feel like I did a lot of things I wanted to do, and I worked hard. The vision I had before the season, I’ve improved on what I wanted to improve from last year. I felt like I did that. The hitting part just wasn’t there, and that’s probably more of the reason why I’m going down.”

Adam Rosales is tonight’s second baseman, and Bob Melvin said Cliff Pennington will play second on Wednesday.